Mercedes-Benz has announced plans to enter the mid-sized pick-up market before this decade is out and South Africa has been mentioned as one of its key markets, along with Latin America, Australia and Europe. Mercedes-Benz sees strong sales potential in this one-ton segment and the new entrant will be positioned at the premium end of the Hilux/Ranger/Amarok battle ground, and will be developed by the Mercedes-Benz Vans division. There will be a fine balancing act to achieve here as MB Vans head Volker Mornhinweg expects the bakkie to offer a “high level of utility” as well as the comfort, safety and design attributes that one would expect from a Mercedes passenger car.

Actress Raven Symone seems to be suffering from a bad case of 'foot-in-mouth' disease. Symone received a lot of criticism last year after she told media mogul Oprah Winfrey that she didn't want to be 'labelled' as 'African-American'. Last week she proved how little geographical knowledge she has by referring to African countries as continents. “I never said I wasn’t black, I said I wasn’t African American – to me that’s a difference,” she stated.

Five years ago I walked out in the middle of my South African political thought tutorial in absolute outrage after the whole class and the white tutor agreed that Cecil John Rhodes was a great leader. Many white apologists have come forward to "condemn" white racist, patriarchal, paternalistic, unoriginal responses to the Rhodes Must Fall movement.

The child of a prohibited relationship between a black woman and a white Swiss father in apartheid South Africa, Trevor Noah has travelled a long way in a short time to take over one of the biggest shows in US television. With his razor-sharp wit that transcends South Africa's many social and racial divides, Noah, 31, rose to prominence by tackling stereotypes and leaving his audiences laughing -- and squirming -- in their seats. During his regular sold-out shows, he often relates stories of his upbringing in Soweto as a mixed-race boy among black children in the tough township where both Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu once lived. Before bursting into the country's small comedy scene, Noah dabbled in acting and radio before starting his comedy career only as recently as 2007.

THE Department of Home Affairs’ "draconian" regulations for foreign tourists have led to a drop in numbers from key markets such as China and India, the Southern African Tourism Services Association (Satsa) says. Last year, home affairs said foreign visitors would have to appear in person to apply for visas to have biometrics taken. In September to December last year, the number of tourists from China fell nearly 50% and those from India were down 15% year on year. Tourist numbers from Brazil fell 37%, but this was largely due to concern about the Ebola virus, Satsa said.

AFP Raheem Sterling has turned down the chance to treble his money and sign a long-term deal at Liverpool worth �100 000 per week. Raheem Sterling is increasingly likely to leave Liverpool this summer, with the club's stance hardening against making the 20-year-old their highest-paid player. Liverpool and Sterling are at an impasse over a new contract and the England forward has turned down the chance to treble his money and sign a long-term deal worth £100,000 per week. There is a feeling at Liverpool that Sterling now sees his future elsewhere and that he is open to offers from teams who would be willing to pay him far more than they currently are.

A fingerprint recognition machine refused to identify President Goodluck Jonathan as a legitimate voter in Nigeria's crucial national election on Saturday. Widespread technical and logistical problems, along with Islamist Boko Haram militants killing more than a dozen people in drive-by shootings, led to voting being extended into a second day. It is seen as the first election in which an opposition candidate has a serious chance of unseating the incumbent, and widespread fears it could trigger violence are already becoming reality. Islamist insurgents launched several attacks on voters in the northeast on election day, killing three in Yobe state and 11 in neighbouring Gombe, including an opposition parliamentary candidate.

DJ Sbu was initially suspended by the station about three weeks ago for promoting his energy drink Mofaya at the Metro FM Music Awards that were beamed live on SABC1 early this month. SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago confirmed DJ Sbu was let go. A senior SABC official who did not want to be named because he was not allowed to speak to the media said the station wrote a letter to DJ Sbu on Tuesday telling him there would be no negotiations regarding his new contract.

CONGRESS of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has been expelled, but plans are already afoot to form a counter-federation with his long-time allies, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa). The decision to expel Mr Vavi followed a vote by a special central executive committee meeting late on Monday night, sources confirmed. It effectively brings Mr Vavi’s 16-year-long career at the helm of the federation to an end and paves the way for the formation of a counter organisation, which Mr Vavi is understood to have already begun working on.

“There had been a rumbling for years and years,” Hewitt's former teammate Ray Moore, 68, said last week from his home in California, USA. Tennis champion Hewitt, 75, was last week found guilty by the Johannesburg High Court of raping Twiggy Tolken, 47, and Suellen Sheehan, 45, when they were young teens coached by him in the 1980s. Eight-time doubles title winner Moore, who travelled and played with Hewitt for about a decade in the 1970s when they both represented South Africa, enjoyed dinners with a “nice” Hewitt and endured the same man's “terrible” temper tantrums as his opponent on the court.

It's official, after only six days in the Big Brother Mzansi house, Ex and Lebo are out of the game. As fate would have it, Ex answered the red telephone and Biggie ordered him to exit the house with Lebo in tow. While Lebo wanted to take the money and run, Ex was more eager to continue with playing the game. "You've gained enough exposure to go on with your Rap career and this is enough to set you up," Lebo reasoned with her partner.

Home affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi has condemned recent utterances by Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini calling for the deportation of foreigners from South Africa. Cde Mohadi said King Zwelithini's remarks were highly inflammatory and against Sadc protocols. The Zulu king's outburst came last week during his speech at a moral regeneration event in Pongola, northern Kwa-Zulu Natal in the presence of Police minister Nathi Nhleko and KwaZulu-Natal community MEC Willies Mchunu. Cde Mohadi said the Zulu monarch's statements were misguided and unfortunate.

The findings of a new report reveal some interesting trends when it comes to how the world cooks, with a breakdown of which countries cook the most, the least, and the countries that are most passionate about food.

Jamie Foxx has been slammed for making a joke about Bruce Jenner. The 47-year-old singer-and-actor caused controversy in his opening monologue at the iHeart Radio Music Awards at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium on Sunday when he poked fun at the 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star and his transition from male to female.

Julius Malema in the flesh does not easily bring to mind an athlete. The EFF Central Command Team, while they keep many secrets, make no secret of their tactics. The first and most obvious (to say nothing of the crudest, in purely political terms) was the SONA Showdown, live on TV, beamed into millions of South African living rooms. It went off without a hitch, by which I mean it went off with many hitches, and that’s exactly what the EFF had hoped for.